Obama in post-debate bounce

Barack Obama has been back on the campaign trail after clawing back lost ground in the US elections with what was widely thought to be a much-improved performance in his second Presidential debate with Mitt Romney.

Asked what happened in the first presidential debate, when President Obama gave a weak performance, he told The Daily Show with Jon Stewart:

Obviously I had an off night. The presentation wasn't the way it needed to be but the issues haven't changed. They didn't change after the first debate and they didn't change in the second debate and that is, the stakes in this election are really big. Governor Romney makes a good presentation but the fundamentals of what he's calling for are the same policies that got us into this mess, that we've been fighting against for the last four years.

Bruce Springsteen has put his weight behind Obama in the presidential election, telling supporters at a rally, "I'm here today for Ohio and for President Obama and because for for thirty years I've been writing about the difference between the American dream and American reality."

After a warm welcome from the former president Bill Clinton, Springsteen said he had come to the rally because: "I'm thankful for universal healthcare, the lack of which for so long was an embarrassment to our country."

A new Gallup poll has been asking registered voters, "Suppose the presidential election were held today, and it included Barack Obama and Joe Biden as the Democratic Party's candidates and Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan as the Republican Party's candidates. Who would you vote for?"

The results of the poll show Romney ahead with 52% of the vote to Obama's 45%.

The poll of 2,700 probable voters has seen Romney gradually gain ground since 7th October.

Tagg Romney with his wife Jen and former US Secretary of State Rice during the Republican convention. Credit: Reuters

Mitt Romney's eldest son joked in a radio interview that he wanted to "take a swing" at Barack Obama after the president called his father a liar during the latest televised debate, according to Politico.